My parents were planning a weekend with their friends in one of the most unknown part of Tunisia, the North West. I decided to join them and last Saturday, a bit after noon, we were heading to the Algerian border.
El Kef is an Arabic word for 'the rock'. Some wants to believe that El Kef is a diminutive of El Keffar, miscreants, for that there were more Jews and Christians than Muslims. I don’t know if it’s true but that actually seems to be a very convivial harmony between these communities on that old city called la medina.
It wasn’t always called that way. This area went through diverse names since its establishment.
In the 5th century before J. - C., a Sicilian colony would have been established by Carthage on the perched site. Water was abundant which brings on the city the protection of Astarte, Punic goddess of fertility (called by the Greeks under the name of Aphrodite). This veneration might be at the origin of the first name of the city, Cirta (Chirta = Kirta). Most probably to name a sanctuary devoted to Astarte. Cirta was a city originally settled by Numidian people (a Berber people) as a city-temple. It soon became a centre of pilgrimage allowing the creation of political alliances with the other big cities. It later became Roman under the reign of Julius Caesar with the names of Pertica and Castellae. Polybe was the first to mention, 300 before J. - C., the name of Sicca Citadel Punic and the city will be known throughout Antiquity under the name of Sicca Veneria.
This was what our guide told us and a lot more about the endless story of his native city, with its imposing history.
The town is built around the Kasbah, kind of fortress, perched on huge outcrop of rock on a hilltop some 2200 metres above sea-level with a spring emerging below the summit which has both provided water and been the focus of various religious cults. It's the obvious place to put a fortification to control both the surrounding area and east-west communications and is additionally blessed with a spring, and as one would expect from a site of such obvious strategic value it's recorded history goes back to Phoenician times.
And even more, fragments of bone identified as homo erectus have been found nearby.
El Kef is an Arabic word for 'the rock'. Some wants to believe that El Kef is a diminutive of El Keffar, miscreants, for that there were more Jews and Christians than Muslims. I don’t know if it’s true but that actually seems to be a very convivial harmony between these communities on that old city called la medina.
It wasn’t always called that way. This area went through diverse names since its establishment.
In the 5th century before J. - C., a Sicilian colony would have been established by Carthage on the perched site. Water was abundant which brings on the city the protection of Astarte, Punic goddess of fertility (called by the Greeks under the name of Aphrodite). This veneration might be at the origin of the first name of the city, Cirta (Chirta = Kirta). Most probably to name a sanctuary devoted to Astarte. Cirta was a city originally settled by Numidian people (a Berber people) as a city-temple. It soon became a centre of pilgrimage allowing the creation of political alliances with the other big cities. It later became Roman under the reign of Julius Caesar with the names of Pertica and Castellae. Polybe was the first to mention, 300 before J. - C., the name of Sicca Citadel Punic and the city will be known throughout Antiquity under the name of Sicca Veneria.
This was what our guide told us and a lot more about the endless story of his native city, with its imposing history.
The town is built around the Kasbah, kind of fortress, perched on huge outcrop of rock on a hilltop some 2200 metres above sea-level with a spring emerging below the summit which has both provided water and been the focus of various religious cults. It's the obvious place to put a fortification to control both the surrounding area and east-west communications and is additionally blessed with a spring, and as one would expect from a site of such obvious strategic value it's recorded history goes back to Phoenician times.
And even more, fragments of bone identified as homo erectus have been found nearby.
Driving from the main road, we arrived at a square next to the bus/taxi station in the new town, which with its suburbs sprawls down the hill. It’s a short walk up to the older part of the town, where the place d' Independance divides the newer development from the old medina, a maze of alleyways ascending to the summit taken by the Kasbah.
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